Our History

In the 1961, SEIU Local 513 was officially charted as Building Service Employees International. BSEIU’s International Union was founded in 1921 which you can read more about here. In 1961, our main unit was City of Wichita employees, particularly those who did Custodial Services, though we also served a variety of employees across the state of Kansas.

By 1973, we had officially negotiated our first contract with Wichita Public Schools USD 259 to represent their Classified staff. We have continued to serve USD 259 Classified staff along with the City of Wichita and the City of Hutchinson for decades and are proud to have a rich history in Kansas, focused on fighting for the employees who too often get exploited, overlooked and underpaid.